


Aspiring to Sing

by SaitamaRequiem



Category: Trolls (2016)
Genre: Branch is very creative and build cool things, F/M, Fighting with other species, It is about life had Chef actually ran away from the kingdom and never looked back, Pre-Movie, So keep an eye out, World expansion when I can
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-11
Updated: 2018-02-24
Packaged: 2018-09-16 18:49:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 19,808
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9285317
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SaitamaRequiem/pseuds/SaitamaRequiem
Summary: Banished from the kingdom Chef had left and never looked back.That night Poppy had planned a party and with usual her smile radiant as she handed out the invitations and spoke to all of her Troll friends. Branch had never come to any of her other parties before but she was not going to let that stop her now while she had a plan behind her. It was not a perfect plan, not unlike the others she had used before her that used invitations, banners, hugs or songs. No, this one used glitter! It would be sure to impress Branch enough to come. Wouldn’t it?An AU where the Trolls have nothing to worry about. With Bergen town far away and Chef nowhere near enough to hear them partying that night, or any other night for that matter Troll life continued on. Except for Poppy that is. Branch’s reluctance to party, sing or dance baffled her in ways she could not explain, and he made her feel in ways she has never experienced. Along with that world expansion on things such as culture and animals in the wild.Ever wonder why Guy had an accent different from Creeks? That's what we are here to find out.





	1. Will he?

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first time actually posting something and of course it for Trolls, huh? Well I can try my best at this really. I just want world expansion as this movie was infinitely better than what I had expected and I just love Branch and his personality, same as Poppy's. The effort into their expressions and all of that made me fall in love. I wanted there to be more before the movie and during so why not and AU where Chef never finds them? 
> 
> UPDATE!!!  
> I changed more lines to be accurate and more movie related, while adding in more description. go back and read!

She had woken up early that morning in a good mood wrapped up in her warm spider silk sheets. She had spent most of her night personalizing each invitation, especially since this was the party to celebrate the 20th anniversary of her father saving everyone from the terrible Bergens.

This always happened when a new party came up and the excitement would feel like it was thrumming through her body thus make her lose sleep. She would be running on fumes later on unless she found somewhere nice and comfy to take a nap, her mind sluggish and body even slower. She may be the most energetic Troll with her seemingly endless energy from nowhere but she did have her moments.

Rolling onto her right side and huddled even more into her blankets, the previous position of laying on her back pinched her muscles uncomfortably making it hard not to squirm while waiting for the sun to come up and place its warm rays on her village the previous bright colors dulled by the night only to be resurrected by the light that would soon to be flooding through her windows so she could finally get up and get the day going to leave her anxious thoughts.

She had so many invitations to hand out and so little time. Wanting to get the day going but still feeling the pull of her relaxing bed she snuggled further into her sheets, the mixes of the various plants and grasses placed inside her mattress filling her senses with the impression of home.

During time in bed with her thoughts time had passed rather quickly she got up and got to business about fixing herself up like usual. Getting into the shower wouldn't be so bad considering she had lots of time still, the rays of light gently sparing their warmth and pushing their way into her home to light her way across the hallway.

She skipped to the bathroom that was just opposite to her bedroom quickly stripped herself of her dress and underwear and stepped into the shower the warmth making her muscles visibly sag in relief.

A tune came into her mind and while acknowledging the fact that she would be working up a sweat in just an hour or so with her throat soon to be sore from projecting the music of her heart so far in hope of it reaching every Troll, she decided she may as well do it as a bit of a warm up.

Maybe she could hum instead? _'A little warm up would be pretty fun!'_

It always calmed her to sing, hum or even dance a bit due to her being on edge to be doing something productive for her people or friends.

If not she would be off the walls fiddling with her hands or doing some odd things like weird concoctions of her foods, like the time she had pseudo assassinated the king with a sandwich purely made from the slime excreted by the common Jubju slug which while was harmless definitely was not to be eaten.

Oh boy he was so sick afterwards.

When she was done washing up she twisted the knob and the spray of water slowed to a stop. She then walked back to her room, not after a towel was placed on her head, chest and waist to prevent a water trail following after her steps.

Drying up entirely and disposing of the towels she then walked to the closet and chose her usual dress, the thick shoulder strap that came diagonally across her chest left to right to clasp on with a piece of string in the middle and the bottom of the skirt slightly flaring outwards - the fabrics soft, generally having a fuzz like quality that her people adored to the point it became a popular trend - the aqua blue at the bottom of her dress with little light blue flowers rising up into the plain darker shade because hey, it's her style. She was not going to break that now.

_'Not to mention it's my FAVOURITE color!'_

She then began to style her hair up into her normal ponytail that rested on the top of her head, the blue elastic wrapped tight to keep her hair in place and to ensure that no stray hairs appeared later on in the day causing her to take out her elastic and style it again because come on it's such a pain to do that.

Placing her normal flower crown on, the small band fitted perfectly to her head enough not to make it stand out and be disguised as a headband of sorts.

Fixing one of the flowers on the band that had turned slightly astray from its original position she nodded and decided she looked nice enough to come out of her house-pod.

Walking into her kitchen she pulled out a few vegetables and fruits from her cooler unit, never liking sweets in the morning when the chunks of sugar kept getting between her teeth, stuck to the sides and roof of her mouth. It had left a bad taste in her mouth more than once and by the end of the day her mouth smelled awkward, which was one way to say it.

Lunch was another time she loved her vegetables, but usually her favorite part of the meal was when Dragon fruit was involved. Her dearly loved fruit and even the colors on the outside was appealing! Supper was not an issue because really who was she kidding at that point, she would eat anything. Literally.

When she was young probably about four years old, maybe two or three years before the whole sandwich incident, she ate a whole tube of glitter just to vomit it up an hour later and get cheered on like a champion at the colorful sparkle vomit produced.

Ah, good times those were.

Most Trolls only ate sweets as they were nutritious but it did not seem like it was okay to eat them day in and out like most did. She figured that is why she had more energy than most to use or put away. She had never forced any habits of hers on other Trolls as most would not bother to change and she couldn’t blame them, honestly.

Maybe when she became Queen it could be a rule to put more healthy foods out for everyone or balance between the two!

Standing at the opening of her pod she took a deep breath and brushed off the nostalgia this morning brought to her. Shaking her body head to toe, the shaking making it look like a wave came through her body and got lost somewhere in the floor. Talking herself up usually into doing things helped her gather her thoughts and relax.

"Oh this is going to be so much fun!" She pushed the petal of her pod open with a gigantic smile that only she could pull off as genuine, on anybody else it would look like it hurt. Opening her mouth wide to project what she was singing, she started.

_“She calls out to the man on the street_

_'Sir, can you help me?’_

_It's cold and I've nowhere to sleep,_

_Is there somewhere you can tell me?'_

_He walks on, doesn't look back_

_He pretends he can't hear her_

_Starts to whistle as he crosses the street,"_

At this point Poppy was getting weird looks from other Troll’s on her choice of music but she flashed them a bright smile and a come hither motion with her hands and arms at any who looked doubtful to encourage them to keep going or join with her song. It spurred the rest of the Troll’s on more but not quite enough yet. The bolder ones joined Poppy, creating a perfect harmony between them all the beautiful voices whether young or old, off or on the note, the voices molded the song and beat like calloused feet stepping in mud to create a direction and deciding where they wanted to go.

The rest deciding to join her and the others, she seen her friends off coming towards the mixing of Trolls in the distance being with most the village in her choice of song and hesitant with how slow it was. But they could never resist the temptation of a full on village wide song just like the rest.

She lost them somewhere in the back after her vision was blocked by the mass of Trolls mixing together creating a mass of heat that was almost visible to the eye, the smell of sweat coming from all directions as people waved their arms and bodies around giving it their all, even though it didn't fit everyone was partying hard and having fun.

_“Seems embarrassed to be there_

_Oh think twice, it's another day for you and me in paradise_

_Oh think twice, 'cause it's just another day for you,_

_You and me in paradise, think about it_

_She calls out to the man on the street_

_He can see she's been crying_

_She's got blisters on the soles of her feet_

_She can't walk but she's trying_

_Oh think twice, 'cause it's another day for you and me in paradise_

_Oh think twice, it's just another day for you,_

_You and me in paradise, think about it_

_Oh Lord, is there nothing more anybody can do_

_Oh Lord, there must be something you can say_

_You can tell from the lines on her face_

_You can see that she's been there_

_Probably been moved on from every place_

_Cause she didn't fit in there.”_

This whole song had started as a slow one, the beat malleable to her and the Trolls harmonious natures. But she did not suspect it could ever get so out of control like this. Everyone is in on it this time and Trolls at this point are ignoring everyone but themselves and the ones they are dancing with singing at different times, beats AND notes. Most a semitone off but others are and entire chord down!

She laughed loud and happy, the sound not even making it past a few feet as this sort of chaos in songs are actually pretty rare even for their exuberant nature and only happen when people get pretty pumped up after a slow start.

She had Branch in her mind originally for this song when she had suspected the days they sang the 80's he was less grouchy and after a few experiments it turns out she was right. Liking to think that she could make his day even a bit better for however much he complained.

_"Oh think twice, 'cause another day for you and me in paradise_

_Oh think twice, it's just another day for you,_

_You and me in paradise, just think about it, think about it_

_it's just another day for you and me in paradise_

_it's just another day for you and me in paradise, paradise_

_Just think about it, paradise, just think about it_

_Paradise, paradise, paradise.”_

When she stopped with her chest heaving and body thrumming she was filled with an indescribable feeling after everyone was joined in and gave it their all.

Pink faced from all the blood rushing to her cheeks she yelled out, "Okay everyone! That was a great warm up! Go home and take a breather because tonight is going to be amazing!"

A resounding "Yoohoo!" and other cheers was thrown around the crowd with Troll's of all colors and sizes clapping, hugging and celebrating more in excitement of what was to come. Of course a disgusted face or two was made when a particularly sweaty troll hugged another.

"Princess Poppy's-... to live for!"

"I wonder if there is-... the sparkly juice they had there last time there..."

"She must be tired-... making all of those invitations. Look at the bags on her eyes, the-..."

She had stopped mid step and her ears flicked towards where she had heard the words. With voices cutting in and out of each other and with so many she couldn't tell. Did she really have that bad of bags?

This morning they had been only slight from what she remembers. But if the other Troll's really are noticing than she must have a nap soon. She nodded to herself, spinning on her heel to head out and give everyone their respective invites but a slow, sarcastic clapping made her stop.

"Unbelievable guys, really. Really great. Good job. Only problem? I could hear you a mile away!" The voice started off as sarcastic, leading off into a disgruntled hiss as to not be too loud to alert anything near them.

If sarcasm and disbelief was a poison, you would be dead ten times over.

"Really? That's great I was worried we weren't projecting enough." She said in a wheezy voice still trying to regain her breathe. Being the lead singer in a lot stuff was hard on one's voice, y'know?

"If I can hear you so can the Bergens!" He hissed again still speaking quietly, eyes shifting around, his ears swinging around this way and that way listening for anything like a Bergen or a predator could barge in any second.

She watched his ears for a second really admiring the way he could do that. No other troll could move their ears in any direction his usually did from what she knew. His ears were also more pointed than any other that made him look more, how could she say it? Animalistic. If that was even a word.

If not she would just decree it as one as soon as she was Queen that it would be. She just chalked it up to him being born like that or the years in the wilderness made him change physically somehow along with mentally. 'Definitely mentally,' she added. It would only make sense with how doe like his actions were.

"Oh boy," She heard Guy Diamond speak his accent flowing distinctly behind her making her jump slightly. When did they get there?

"Here we go again." Said Cooper to finish Guys sentence.

"Oh Branch." Came Biggies lilting voice in exasperation.

"You always ruin everything," Came Satin followed by Chenille. "Warning us about the Bergens."

"No I don't." Branch replied his face twisted in confusion showed he didn't know what she was talking about.

"Come on! We haven't seen a Bergen in 20 years Branch. They aren't gonna find us." She put an emphasis on twenty years hoping that anytime soon it would get through his head.

"No, they aren't going to find me. Because I'll be in my highly camouflaged, heavily fortified Bergen proof survival bunker."

"...You mean you aren't coming to the party tonight?"

"But it's gonna be the biggest..." Satin and Chenille started off.

"The loudest...!" Continued DJ Suki.

"...Craziest party ever!" Cooper cut her off in a shout completing the sentence.

A chorus of cheers rang through the air as everyone got excited at the prospect of the party occurring later on tonight.

"Big? Loud? Crazy? You're just gonna lead the Bergens right to us!" His voice cracked in the middle of his sentence with frustration with his arms waving for more emphasis on the matter.

Cooper leaned in and whispered into her ear and like any Troll he didn't know how to keep it quiet and subtle. "Do you really want this party pooper to poop on your party?" Well Branch definitely heard that one if his expression was enough to go by.

"Yeeess I believe everyone deserves to be happy." Poppy pointedly looked at Branch with a smile on her face.

"I don't do happy." He sent her a dark scowl in what seems to be an attempt to ward off her bright look. Too bad it wasn't going to work.

"Branch. I know you have happiness inside you, you just need," she waved to all of her friends around her, "To find it!"

Poppy brought the invitation out from her hair to show Branch and as soon as she stopped moving she popped open the side to reveal a green felt Branch with black hair holding heart surrounded by green grass, on each side a circular flower. It went on to exclaim 'Celllllebrate freedom from the Bergens!'

After the little tune was over it sprayed sparkles all over Branch's face, all the while he didn't even flinch. He patiently waited until the stream was over, a very long stream of sparkles thank you, and the last little pump of sparkles floated down to the ground. He held his hands towards her and she looked at them with a little surprise.

_'Please don't let him destroy this one.'_

She sneaked a peek at his face to try to predict his actions but it stayed neutral, his eyes blank and the smile on his face looked wrong. He took it from her gently his fingers barely brushing against hers and the warmth that came off was surprising for such an emotionally cold Troll.

She guessed that everything seemed so cold about him to her most times that even his body would feel cold. His hands that looked so strong that looked like they would easily break any other Troll's wrist and his arms subtly moved with muscle every which way he moved, the typical chubbier male Troll body mostly covering it but not with total success.

Doing a lot of weight lifting in the wilderness with sticks, branches and boulders would do that to one she guessed.

As she gotten caught up in her thoughts he had taken the time to study her invitation with an inkling of interest though that did not stop him. In a blink of an eye it had been carelessly thrown down on the ground and his foot descended on it with such an angry force it made her flinch.

His heel crudely stomped it into the ground filth rubbed into the once vibrant colors now made dull with dirt, every movement causing her heart to ache and her eyes to get wetter. She was so sure the sparkles would at least show him. She put so much effort in it for him and maybe give that push for him to come.

Loud gasps were heard behind her along with a deep "Oh my god" but that is not what she was concerned about at the moment.

"Let me get this straight," He paused for a minute to take in a mouthful of air and exhale, "I wouldn't be caught dead at your party. But you will be caught, and dead."

A buzzing sounded in everyone's ears before they heard a, "Easy Branch, easy!" I was Creek! He would know what to do. Creek let the bug leave with a quick "Namaste" and a bow with his hands pressed together before addressing Branch in his easy going way with a smile and calm demeanour.

"Okay first of all mate. Thanks for sharing your unique perspective on things. Again." Creek gave a look back, making Biggie and Cooper giggle. She didn't get it.

"But just for now why don't you just try some positivity eh? A little positivity might go along with that vest!" Creek mocked. Branch narrowed his eyes at Creek the air turning colder than before.

"Okay, fine. I'm positive you are all going to get eaten." He said with a wave and a smile faker than plastic.

He promptly turned to leave but the chorus of the bells on everyone's bracelets made him stop and tense, each one ringing a different tune right after the other but still creating harmony. Her heart jumped for joy and grabbed the Troll closest to her, trying to get away had turned his back towards her.

Her front molded against his back comfortably, the feeling of his soft back made her feel warm and when she started to lean on him to get more of that feeling he supported some of her weight and that is when she felt the concealed muscle under his vest clench in a small effort to keep them upright. His warmth seeping through his vest and through her dress to tease her skin and make her want more.

She didn't feel the rest jump in with her and Branch and wondered why until she heard the content 'hm's' and 'hah's!' behind her from them. It seems they decided not to join in on her hug with Branch. While she really did enjoy being smothered to death by them she was okay with not having the group squeeze the life out of her at the moment as long as it stayed just her and Branch.

The way his back never tensed while they were embracing and even seemed to just relax made her day a little brighter. Giving her a sneaky thought to try out later on just like her '80's experiment'. ' _A true conspiracy that one_.'

Cracking the code and lining up the clues just one conclusion had been hard and if she must say so, she is good at picking up emotions. He finally shrugged her off gently with a roll of his shoulders to turn around and push a few inches away, but that was all it took for her to see the blush on his face, an unidentifiable color she could not for the life of her put her finger on that seemed to just barely conceal his true color, his teal eyes still so bright with color when the rest of his body was dull and almost lifeless in a way.

He seemed to startle away from her in a hurry of embarrassment of being caught staring but not before grabbing his sticks and running full speed for the woods and successfully getting away, blending in quickly and disappearing before her eyes. Caught indeed, she smothered her enormous smile.

Turns out she had got him in a weak moment for the first time since she has known him. She had some invitations to hand out and a plan now to set in place.


	2. Lost but not ever alone

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> God I know there grammar mistakes and words misspelled but they will be fixed generally within a few days so that is something that we can look forward to? If I kept it and then posted the copy I went through with a fine tooth comb we would get NOWHERE and barely anything would get out. So if anything seems weird it will get fixed eventually.

"You can’t be kidding me Poppy,” Said Suki, “Inviting someone like him? He would just ruin all of your work and everyone’s fun!”

"Everyone relax and just take a breather," Came the smooth accent that rolled off of Creeks tongue like honey, too sweet. "Now Poppy," Creek began, "That guy has no business with parties, he made that one clear. His negative energies are polluting your mind I can see, he is no good to anyone even himself. Why don't you take today to relax and clear your mind before the party."

Poppy frowned at the ground still pretty upset at Branch's careless stomping of something she had poured her heart into and specifically made for him for a good part of the night.

Maybe Creek was right. But thinking like that would get her nowhere causing Branch to run away to finally get the peace he always carried on about but he  _needed_  someone to have a positive emotional relationship with, all Trolls do. It's a well known fact one would die, magic wilting before disappearing over a period of time.

The sound of someone getting closer sounded in her ears making her look up to see Creek was there waiting with a warm smile and his hand partially extended. His hand continuing its path upwards it went up to her face his index finger was pulled out of its place on his palm to tap her on the nose with a "Boop" and her smile had came back same as ever. He knew how to cheer her up at times like these and she appreciated it. 

Giving Creek a grateful smile she waved goodbye to everyone a little bit sad that she could not stay longer to chat and play, but she had her royal duties as the hostess of her party to deal with.

Many Troll's ambled about doing their business with whatever trade or gossip, the town busy and alive sounds overlapping the other with the coming and going of many species of friendly prey like the odd mouse or caterpillar. Hopefully they would be getting some of the Kiwi's on route to their breeding grounds.

Sometimes during the year when the mating season was at its peak, or even before it, many types of friendly bird would request some Troll made item to impress the one they were courting as many items here were bright and luxurious which was highly sought after in the wild.

Another thing to keep an eye out for and soon as the seasons mating cycles carried with other species along with Trolls included and being the princess she attracted some _preeeetty_ desperate Trolls. 

 _'At least they listen to my father when he tells them to back off.'_ She winced at the thought of being married off to someone she did not love at all and was entirely grateful that her father would not marry her to someone of royal stature. Not like there was any in the village anyway besides her and her father. Speaking of him...

When you were talking to others with some interesting stories you had to be continually invested - Losing her train of thought was as easy as it can be when it came to her with hoards of people and commotion, the movement and noise creating a playback of what could be happening to others without her even needing to see it the pictures already setting a scene behind her eyes.

Having already spoken to some of the farmers about how the crops were going as needing more magic to provide for such a large village that was ever expanding came with some pretty heavy need of certain plants and crops. Sunflower seeds were great for the winter, collected year long while wheat and other plants had a much higher demand so storing was a bit harder to space out and do.

After a long conversation that she had told him to take to the king if he wanted anything to happwn as she did not have enough power, but she would put in a good word for him and the others everyone left all smiles and a raised mood.

It took the majority of the day and not even the lunch musical had made her pause in her journey to give each citizen their invitation making each and every Troll pause in their work to talk.

 _'Really guys? You know I have to go around the whole village to hand these out, also you have a job to be doing.'_ Not just a few words but minutes and _minutes_ of wandering conversation before they would actually be forced go back to their job for one thing or another, mostly a complaining customer. Do you know how much time a few minutes of each Troll in town takes? ' _A long time, that is what_.'

This carried on for so long she lost track and when her duties were done she was about ready to collapse. Debating on trying a new plan to make Branch come to her party was just barely achievable with the time she had, but without her usual energy it would be impossible and who wants a cranky princess leading the party?

 _'Maybe if I sleep for a bit I can come up with something by the time I wake up.'_ She thought.

Poppy walked to the perimeter of the village, her pace lazy with no rush or hustle. "One leg after the other," She muttered to herself feeling it was okay as nobody could be seen for quite a while. "Just find a place to sleep for a bit and we'll be as good as new."

Stopping and looking to her right she seen a barely visible path leading into the forest, the thick ferns beginning to bud with the change of season towering above her and the path.

Being right after winter and just barely dipping into spring it was rather warm, not damp either but dry instead which was quite odd for this part of the country at this time. With steady but dragging steps she found her way through the path with a bit of trouble.

Many fallen leaves from the previous fall that had been covered by frosty snow appeared from beneath in mounds, while twigs and branches fallen from the previous spring storm littered the path.

Being one not to give up she kept on pushing through until she seen a bright opening where the trees didn't block the sun from just filtering through the forest canopy. 

The field she entered after pushing away some particularly annoying bushes wasn't fairly huge, just big enough for all of her friends in the Snack Pack to come and enjoy a nice picnic and run around for a bit without hitting the actual treeline.

There was a big pond that could be considered a lake for all uses and purposes that she knew of and with its rocky sandy shores only stretching a few feet before meeting the bright green hue of the soft and vibrant grass, the water clear until the it hit deeper depths which at that point it delved into unfathomable darkness.

In the grass closest to the trees on the opposite side from where she was standing was a great big looming mushroom with its tall stature giving plenty of shadow to any who might need it.

Wandering across the field to it and touching its base it seemed curiously fuzzy and soft to the touch, the solid brown from before turning out to be a cascading color of different browns swirled together close up.

Leaning down to touch the grass to ensure that there was no damp areas on the blades of grass and finding none even if she pressed all of her weight on her hand to bring up any moisture that could have possibly been hiding. ' _No need in getting sick right now.'_ She thought to herself enthusiastically slightly giggling when she had a case of déjà vu to when she was younger and not careful, _'W_ _ellllll,'_ Mentally rolling the L in her mind she reluctantly admitted to herself. _'Much less careful than I am now.'_

Catching a horrible cold that developed into a vicious fever had sucked lots and worried everyone in the castle, especially her father and friends.

Laying with her head under the mushroom the tall fungus to her face a break from the light, else it bug her through her eyelids. With the rest of her body in the sun to absorb the warmth of its rays it gives especially grateful now even if the cold winds of winter were still being chased off.

Today may not be cold and others would beg to differ it would stay indefinitely until nature took its course but the others in charge of watching the weather's magic front said that there would be a freeze run within the next week. Feeling sleepy just from the few seconds of relaxed exposure she closed her eyes and without recognizing her eyes slipping closed, she had passed into the realm of unconsciousness.

 

* * *

 

When she woke up it wasn't due to any particular reason, but the first thing she realized was the light that had bathed the area before was gone along with all the color.

Blinking a bit before reaching up to gently rub at her eyelids to get rid of the last remnants of sleep and slowly leaning up from the ground to prop herself onto her elbows, the soft stillness of the wilderness that came with the changing of light to dark whispered in her ears alerting her that she should make her way home before anything dangerous came after her.

The village can only keep you safe from predators only if you were within it's limits and she definitely was not even close the trip earlier taking her a good fifteen minutes which would have been fine any other time.

Wiping her dress of anything that she had picked up from the ground she quickly looked around the place trying to find where she had entered but in the light of the sun just barely in the horizon the earthy colors mixed together to create a blend of a brown green that was hard to tell from one another, especially when you were not built for anything at really night time related unless the bright lamps in her village were involved to light her way and everyone else's.

Somewhat panicking at this point she stood there and took a deep breath through her nose and out of her mouth using what Creek had taught her in order to calm down and think clearly when she was upset.

 _'Time to list off what was wrong and take care of it,'_ Her father always said to her it was to be a crucial part of her life as Queen, the words seemingly wise enough to use at this moment.

Okay. She was out in the wilderness, by herself, no idea how to get back and definitely no idea what to do if a predator came by and snatches her up. No idea on how to navigate the dark either and that was her only way of getting home. Biting her lip as tears threatened wet her eyes refusing to be upset, it was her fault anyway for coming out here and if she could have seen her face, it was sure to be flushed bright red.

She sat there for Troll knows how long, the overwhelming fear consuming her mind and filling it with a primal need of finding a place to _hide_  until the sound of something moving in the bushes across from her caught her attention and made her heart stop for a few seconds. Well if some nasty beast thought they could take her without a fight they were dead _wrong._

An outline of a hand and a face appeared from behind a bush across the field from her where the origin of the noise had come from, the figure of Trolls being unique enough not to mix with another creature yet it was too hard to identify who it was right off the bat.

Hopefully one of her friends came looking or her and save her the embarrassment of being found by some village Troll that was sure to gossip. When the hand moved in what she could only guess as a 'come here' movement did she only start to move, making her way across the field.

When she reached the front of the bush she went to go ask who it was but the hand lunged out grabbing her wrist in a tight grip and drug her in covering her mouth before her frightened and confused noises that poured from her mouth without consent could attract anything.

 _"What are you doing!?"_ Came the voice that seethed with barely concealed rage.

"Branch! My man! You were right on time." She said back a little more smug sounding than intended than what was needed in the situation because honestly she had been very scared alone out there. All the tales can't always be false when others tell stories of beasts that would kill a Troll without a moment's hesitation or even eat them alive.

 _"Oh right, like you knew I was coming."_  The voice scolded her and that is when she really took notice of what was wrong in this situation. Why was he even out here past dark? Wouldn't he be hiding in his bunker safe and far away from the predators he always yells at the other Trolls to be aware of and to stay away? She guessed there was lots she did not know about the one and only survivalist and the only other Troll brave enough to wander at night.

Maybe brave was not the right word, maybe more so something along the lines of 'he knew what he was doing enough not to be eaten.'

"Sorry," She said before she got a face full of him shushing her, his finger placed on his lips in a sign of 'Be quiet.' 

 _"I decided to take a nap and when I woke up it had already been too dark to really see where I had come from and_ -" She said in a rushed whisper the words just bleeding out of her mouth, and abruptly cut off a warm hand that was placed on her mouth and with a more firmer _shhhh_ that was hissed out, she became quiet but not without some discontent at him winning this time.

When he knew his point had gotten across to her for the moment at least, he motioned for her to follow him after he removed his hand from her face.

As she followed him or well, his figure mostly but even then it was hard as he blended in _so well_. After tripping over multiple items such as rocks, branches, leaves and even nothing at all he was forced to initiate some form of contact with her to keep her from stumbling and making too much noise lest they attract something that would see them as ripe for the picking.

He turned around with what sounded like an angry huff of air that was pushed through his nose and grabbed her hand quickly like it was something to get over and done with, which in all likelihood is probably what it felt like to him but to her it was amazing with this being what she has been working for years to get him to do!

She had tried so hard and for so long that even hand holding was an accomplishment in a situation like this and would take it as a win for now.

She marvelled at how soft his hands were against hers, the lines of their palms sliding against each other every time they jostled them but never enough to actually have to physically remove himself from other as the path pretty much evened out at this part with no more sticks or giant leaves.

Not mentioning the contact between them yet would be best as it could result in him turning uncomfortable and pulling away and leaving her to stumble around again leaving only the outline of his figure to follow figuring they were getting close to the village.

It had actually taken a while but they eventually reached the outskirts of the village where no Troll's tended to wander at this time of night unless they had reason to or for some trading purposes. When she turned around to thank Branch for coming to collect her and pretty much saving her from her imminent doom, he had already left with her knowing.

Not even a whisper of his presence remained to tell he was there but most likely beyond her sight. With a sigh and an exaggerated slump of her shoulder she walked away but not before yelling out a, " _I_ _will get you to accept your fate one of these days, Branch!_ "

Little to her knowledge he had been balancing on a branch about her head, hands planted in front of him to keep him steady while his feet provided support. When she stomped away to go lead her noisy party of sexually charged Trolls  _no that is not a creepy thing he is doing purposely_ _he could just smell it from a a good mile and then some on a normal day._ 

He stalked along keeping his body close to the surface his stomach brushing against the rough bark until he could go no further and watched her disappear behind some troll trading stands. He gave a smile at her declaration because being princess had obviously spoiled her into getting what she wanted, when she wanted and how she wanted it.

Though she had an amazingly good heart and never seen the greed in Trolls that they as a species can harbour but not without a reason, even going as far sharing that money and power with as her friends or anyone in need.  Well, she wasn't ever going to get what she wanted from him. He had decided that long ago when he had lost all reason to live despite the circumstances.

Jumping off the branch and using his hair to slow his descent to the ground he leveled out before landed softly, barely a crunch sounded beneath his feat. No, she could never get what she wanted because what she wanted was a miserable and selfish Troll with no set in place morals to go off, but instead in place of that was self preservation and a  _killer_ instinct that broke the Troll way of life.

He has harmed and even killed beings out there in those woods to protect others that were not even of his own _species_. He doesn't belong in the village with the others, they had made it clear after they left him at the Troll tree in Bergen town when they had all escaped.

Eventually he had made his way back to the village only then to be forced to live on the border but close enough to the lake, especially when the loneliness got to be too much and he just needed to hear the distinct caterwauling calls create a melody that others may have found ear bleeding but he found it just  _breathtaking._  

Other days he would hear the noise from the village and find it mildly comforting, but the presence of no other in his abode always made his insides tingle and squirm with discomfort.

Until one day he started to hear a new voice in the village that rose above no other young, but powerful. A few more days later and he found himself wandering close to the village, being 8 then and still somewhat naive can make one curious and do stupid things. That stupid, stupid thing that he did? Was place his eyes on the young pink Troll, maybe around 5 at this point in time.

 

* * *

 

_The young girl had been so caught in song she didn't even notice him watching until the very end when she had decided to spin once with her eyes open wide making him start at how open they were, ready to give and willing to take. In the time it took to process anything properly she had strut her way up to him and gave him a once over with her bright pink eyes, the colour startling._

_"Who are you?" She squeaked out, her voice high with excitement. "I'm princess Poppy!"_

_Choking on his spit he started to cough. The Princess? Oh god if he was caught anywhere near her he would be banished for some hocus pocus thing a guard or staff would make up about him trying to kill, threaten or attack the royal offspring. _

_He has to get out of here and now._

_Giving a look around and noticing she definitely was not where he had last seen her he began to freak out and twisted his body in circles. How could she have gotten anywhere that fast without him noticing, he would never know. But one thing he did know is he heard a burst of giggles from his head at his misfortune and when his hands went up to grab the weight that he never knew rested on his head before he freaked out he felt the small body of the Princess._

_Pulling her off as quick as he could, he was abruptly stopped when he felt a tug from the base of his hair her little hands had attached themselves there like glue._

_"Get off of me!" He nearly shouted, and let her go so she could dangle in front of his face to see how serious he was about it. She just started roaring out laughter like this was the funniest thing ever and it probably was to her evil child mind, he thought._

_"Hey! What are you doing!?" Came an unfamiliar voice and his heart stopped in his chest. He was going to be banished and he was going to be forced out of the area and he would have to leave his home an- "My new friend Daddy!"_

_Are you kidding me. The King himself just caught his daughter hanging from the hair of the child he had left during the great escape. The man stopped and looked at him suspiciously and kneeled a few feet away. "Come now Poppy. Come to Daddy." He bribed._

_"NO!" She screamed making him wince in pain his ears ringing something fierce._

_Making a decision to do this in front of the King was not a smart idea but if he wanted to escape he better do it quick._

_"Uhm... Poppy, was it? If you let go and go to your Dad I will come back to play." Saying when he would come back is another story, and neither did he promise._

_"Okay!"_

_She scrambled off of him and ran to her Dad with a shout and he ran as fast as he possibly could or else face the consequences of his actions of coming even close to the royalty. He hid a fair bit away and waited to see if the King would send his guards after and curiously he didn't._

_When questioned "Sire are you okay? What was the yelling about? We heard a commotion!" He never answered the truth and brushed them off, though he did shoot looks into the woods when they were not looking._

_That means he didn't get in trouble or have to move!_

_That was just only the start of their weird relationship throughout the years with Poppy never seeing him, really only glimpses, until she was 15 when he was making a trade with a villager for some sugar them charging him a ridiculous amount._

_She never did remember from the time when she was five, she asked who he was and why she never saw him before now. H_ _e did so clearly, it was surprising that the turning of time did not dye the hues of her colours darker but staying just as bright in his minds sight._

_In the end she had bought him the sugar and he thanked her quietly - not being the person to forget his manners - before fleeing. She would never forget him after that or leave him alone even going as far to actively seek him out which had been annoying for awhile._

_To this day with him being 28 and her 25 she still chased after him, the banter and the familiarity always comforting and making him seek her out in some way or the other, making him not need to rely on the others as much for comfort._

 

* * *

 

Leaving the memory with a sigh of exhaustion he turned towards the dark silhouettes of the trees behind him and let the blackness of the night envelop him.

With his body slinking this way and that between the trees and bushes he represented something like a savage ethereal being, his eyes glowing and reflecting any light that shone down from the moon onto the forest floor, his ears pointed sharply from the sides of his head to give him a sharper, more dangerous look than any other Troll.

His teeth looking as though they had been sharpened with a tool to perfection was bared to all and any creature who dared to cross his path. His muscles rippled beneath his chubby flesh giving him a little bulkier look than any other male, his stride quiet with experience. He was feared by creatures and respected and he would have it no other way, because tonight he would need it.

The noise of Poppy's party would draw in predators from far and wide and it would be his responsibility to keep everyone safe and happy.

Tonight was going to be a long night.


	3. Venom, won't you come back another day?

Letting out a quiet hiss of pain when the liquid from the antiseptic root dripped out from his palm where he had it gripped tightly, scorching his arm in a fiery pain that felt like it blossomed outwards for a few seconds before disappearing.

He winced and continued on for a few more minutes before he was sure that the area had been cleaned and continued of to wrap it. 

There was a diagonal slash that stretched across his forearm on the left side, though not too deep to cause any major scarring or anything that would last past a few weeks.

Still didn't stop it from hurting like hell when he cleaned it, though. 

Setting up the bandages he began to gingerly wrap around the area, firm enough to make it stay but not as tight enough to irritate it too much.

When he was done with the whole process of wrapping he clamped the ends of the cloth together and cut off any extra ends, folding the now newly cut edges of white cloth into place when he was done and grabbing a metal piece he had crafted that would latch onto the fabric.

Setting all of his supplies down neatly and in order so packing them away would be a quick matter. 

Well. As much as he could with an injured arm. But he couldn't complain it could have been much worse, thank the skies for that one.

Sliding off his bed slowly and landing on the cold dirt with a soft sound and then kicking the box away into a corner, he stood and walked over a few feet to the desk he had placed in his room awhile ago with it's brown colour fitting right in with the rest of the earthy colours.

Sitting down on the chair he had placed in front of the desk, scooting closer to get comfortable. Oh, that's right.

He had forgotten about Poppy's invitation he had stored in his hair to restore at a later date. It wasn't in bad shape, he decided, just bent in some places so he wouldn't have to use tape or other tools to fix it.

Taking it out of his hair he smoothed some of the bent pieces and checked to make sure nothing was wrong or broken and then walked over and placed it off the the side wall where he kept all of the others. 

Gancing at all the handmade cards made just for him and how they all developed throughout the years, getting more and more intricate, more and more creative even. Gazing longingly at them he shut the curtains and returned to his desk to continue what he was doing originally. 

He gently grabbed a book from the top of the pile he had been gathering, picking up a pair of glasses that were placed off to the side that helped him read the words up close and not get too blurry and began to read.

Fingers gently prying the book open and after finding a good spot, he started.

He found himself humming contentedly a few minutes later as he began to read, the words lulling him into a more relaxed state of mind.

It was a delicately written book that some author had taken the time and heart to make, if the hard brown bark cover somehow lined in golden string was to say anything by. The pages yellowed through the passage of time held looping letters that glided in to the other, each and every poem holding a feeling that had to have been experienced by the one writing it. 

After awhile the words blurred, feeling the drift of sleep caused him to raise his good arm to pinch the bridge of his nose to then rub at his eyes to keep himself awake. 

He could have only been reading for a little while, he arrived pretty early in the morning and gotten everything need bandaged up and done. He just needed a good read before bed to calm his thoughts.

Uncrossing his legs from their position he got up and stretched out for a minute and pushed everything back into place, lastly taking off his glasses safely to prevent any scratches on them. 

Lastly he took off his leafy vest and placed it on his side dresser, keeping his shorts on. He didn't see reason to dirty his pyjamas unless it was cold enough inside his bunker. 

Pulling up his thick blankets he shuffled under and rolled onto his side. He wasn't dirty enough to warrant a shower, so his sheets were good enough for another week without a wash. 

Curling up and making sure all the blankets were tucked around him as tight as the could, he closed his eyes. 

 

* * *

 

When he awoke it wasn't because his natural clock said he had enough sleep. No, it was due to the loud and abrupt noises and vibrations that pretty much broke his eardrums and shook his  _entire bunker._

Jumping out from under his sheets he sped over to the elevator of his own creation and hopped on to the circular platform, pretty much throwing the lever down in his haste.

Once he got up and the elevator stopped he started at a full out sprint up and out of his 'GO AWAY' mat, thinking of the worst until he heard it halfway there. 

Of course, what was he thinking. An attack? It was just the entire village stomping around and singing in  _another_ musical that had essentially woken him up. 

Judging by how far the sun was up he had only gotten maybe 1-2 hours of sleep and he had left his vest back at the bunker. Not thinking clearly, anger had rushed through him at his sleep being disturbed so abruptly and he marched his way to the village with a very intense scowl on his face. 

When he got there it had been Poppy leading once again, even with the party just the night before everyone seemed just as energized as ever. He waited not so patiently for the song to be done having learnt long ago no matter what he did they would just continue on because how do they say it? 'The show must go on?' 

As it died down and everyone left except Poppy and her little crew the "Snack Pack" he decided to come out and confront her. 

"Poppy what the  _hell_ are you thinking stomping around this early? I could hear it from where I was sleeping!"

"Awh mister grumpy shorts did we wake you up?" She said in a mocking manner, tone as if she would speaking to a child. But that's when she noticed the condition he was in.

"Branch, are you okay?" Her tone changing entirely with worry, she immediately ran over to him and grabbed his arm invading his personal space. This had grabbed the rest of the Trolls attention which was thankfully only her friends but it was still unwelcome just like everything else. 

Trying to jerk his arm away only caused him to hiss in pain and agitate it more and it didn't seem she was going to let go anytime soon even with his pained hiss of her holding him still, so he stopped moving and suffered his fate of being poked and prodded by Poppy and now that her friends that have ventured even  _closer_ he had to put a stop to it.

"I'm fine, no, really. I just walk around sleep deprived from the loud sky awful sounds you guys call singing every morning with no top and some bloody bandages to sport. I do it everyday with a big smile on my face!" 

"Did you even _see_ a doctor yet?" She looked at him dead in the eyes ignoring his sarcastic comment. 

"...Yes." He hesitated too much, shocked that she didn't even try to comeback with something. Dammit.

"Branch!" 

"Yes, I did! Now leave me alone." He didn't want anyone to see it even if it wasn't that bad they might start getting weird ideas. As if that would ever stop her.

"We gotta go see Plum to change your bandage then! Like you said it's all bloody so why not?" Poppy squealed. How she seemed happy at the prospect of going to the doctors eluded him. In the end he just squinted at her with a hard expression. 

"I'd rather not. Besides, I'm fine. No need to freak out." He took his arm away from her and she relented, carelessly waving it as much as he could afford to and have her a pointed look.

Yup, that was definitely gonna hurt later.

"Still doesn't matter Branch! You aren't a doctor and unless you can prove me wrong I'm still gonna make you go there." She had crossed her arms and put on her "royal" voice. 

"Hm?" He said with a smug grin feeling like it was going to be his win this time. "How do you suppose you are gonna do that, _Princess_." She actually made and effort to look like she was thinking for a moment.

"Oh really I don't know. Maybe all of these guys can help me?" She said with a smirk, not even needing to look back to know all of her friends were going to be in on this one. And she was right, he thought as her friends surrounded him in a circle before Biggie caught him from behind in his arms and hoisted him onto his shoulder.

"This good Poppy?" Biggie asked to make sure this was where she wanted him.

"Yup! Thanks guys."

"No problem," said Chenille, "I'm in just to see him squirm a bit. But," She continued on placing her hands on her hips as she turned towards Branch, who was trying to fight his way out of Biggies grasp but failing as his tiredness as pain hit him all at once now that he wasn't standing, giving her a look of contempt as he finally stayed still. "We aren't monsters. I'm not going to sit by and watch you hurt yourself." 

Everyone nodded their heads at Chenilles speech. Branch just turned his head away to disregard them, but he knew that those words were sincere. 

"Alright," He grumbled underneath his breath a moment later. "Take me wherever." Everyone started to high five each other and Suki even came over to give his good arm a good slap as if to celebrate his decision. "BUT," he continued, "No. Singing." 

Poppy walked up to Branch with a grateful smile. "Thank you." she said softly so the others couldn't hear.

"Pfft, it's not like I had a decision in the matter anyway." He rolled his eyes. "You were going to take me regardless." 

"Right you were my good Branchie." She laughed and pointed into the distance. "ONWARDS TO PLUM PLIMSYS!" Her yell covered Branches spluttering over the misuse of his name.

Branch ignored all of the stares that drilled into his head from all the other Trolls and looked up towards where he could her Poppy and everyone else.

Chenille, Satin and Suki were having a grand old time talking about the next hottest mix to throw into the next party before developing into his shortage of clothing and if they could force him to wear a top of their making, while Smidge and Fuzzbert walked comfortable next to the other neither one much for words.

Guy, Poppy, Cooper were all chattering away with no actual topic so he ignored them in favour of looking around at all the bright colours. Really, magic was an amazing thing. 

Looking to his right he saw the one being Biggie loved with all his his heart, Mr. Dinkles. The inchworm stared right back at him and he gave the little worm a once over, noting that Biggie took care of him well if his coat was anything to go by. He reached with his good side over to Mr. Dinkles to grab on to, which he complied almost immediately and he brought him closer to get a better look at his colour and teeth. 

"What are you doing?" Came the voice of Cooper that almost startled him into almost throwing the poor worm, but he restrained himself. 

"Absolutely nothing," He said through gritted teeth. 

"Yeah you were! You had Mr. Dinkles and was looking at him really funny." Cooper explained as if he was stupid enough to forget what he was doing just seconds prior. 

"Don't hurt Mr. Dinkles!" Cried Biggie in fear as he used his other arm to then grab and cradle Mr. Dinkles and check to see if he was fine, only reason of him being able to do it was because Mr. Dinkles had climbed off and onto Biggies front as soon as Cooper showed up at Branchs silent urging. 

"I wasn't doing anything funny or hurting your stupid inchworm! I was checking to see his health and if you were taking care of him properly. Knowing all of you I can see you feeding him a diet of pure sugar." Snapped Branch. 

"And you apparently know everything about inchworms?" Teased Guy, popping up from behind Cooper.

"Actually, I do. But I don't have to explain myself to you guys." He complained some more to see if any of them would just go. "When are we going to get to the stupid doctors anyway. The colours are burning my eyeballs." They really weren't, but he just wanted to leave all the questions.

Being the only time the Snack Pack actually really stayed to help, they had some questions. 

"Not for awhile now Branch," Said Poppy.

"Ugh."

"Soooooo," Came Suki a few second alter to cover up the awkward silence between them all now. "What do you even do out in the woods all the time besides y'know, gathering sticks." 

"It's beyond your simple understanding." He snorted at her.

"So just like how with singing and dancing is beyond your simple understanding?" Came a voice from above. Of all the slimy, disgusting, backstabbing, lying piece of shit Trolls out there it had to be this one. 

"Hey Creek!" Yelled Poppy. "We are taking Branch to Plum's house. Wanna join?" 

"Sorry mates! Gotta teach the morning yoga class some new exercises. I'll catch you later!" He hollered back down over the side of the cliff, where he could only assume had all of the yoga mats and students were waiting.

"I really don't understand why you guys are friends with him." He said after a few moments of silence after they had walked away.

"What would make you say that. He's a good guy Branch _maybe_ you just can't see that because you're so grumpy all the time." Poppy had poked his nose to emphasize the maybe. 

"Don't EVER do that again." He said baring his teeth at her. 

"Look at the chompers on him guys! Crikey!" He heard Guy say in some weird accent that isn't his usual and turned his attention on them.

"Oh you think this is funny?" They flinched when they saw the angry look he held. "Just don't come crying to me when  something actually happens and you guys need me." 

"Pfft when would we ever need you? To protect us from our _nightmares_?"

That one comment had hurt more then he should have been comfortable with. 

"Alright guys we're here!" He heard Poppy cut off the conversation with her comment loudly and then he was being placed down all of a sudden.

"Whoa, whoa wait! Give me a second!" He held his head in one hand and leaned onto Biggie as he was the closest support and waited for the dizziness to fade away along with the black spots in his vision that came with the usual blood rushing to the head after sitting or laying down for awhile.

 _It wasn't getting better_ , he realized in a sluggish sort of horror. Pushing away from Biggie he turned to run away to hide until this got better. He couldn't stay here when he was ill, it could potentially blow stuff up. Literally. 

He only got a few staggering steps before small hands caught him under his armpits. The smell of dandelions flooded into his nose and he knew who it was even with his vision blurry. It just got worse from there as he crumpled towards her. 

"PLUM! PLUM GET OUT HERE!" He heard someone yell. 

"What is it, Pri-" A  voice and a gasp alerted him to someone new and he again his struggle even more. 

"Get him inside quickly! I will make sure he is fine but do as I say! Quickly!"

He didn't know how he got onto this comfy bed, but all the voices around him kept him awake. 

"Can you keep the noise down? I'm trying to sleep here." He slurred.

"Oh no dear stay awake. I'm just gonna cut off the bandages okay? Say anything if it hurts to much." Not feeling much besides a small tugging and a sting from his arm he just shrugged it off. 

"Oh, no." Came the gasp of Plum. 

"What? What is it?!" The stressed voice of Poppy brought him back a bit. He tried to reach out for her but everything was so dark. 

"It's a cut from a venomous creature, that much I am sure of." She said while inspecting the wound that has turned yellow around the edges and inflamed. "But if I don't know what gave him this I can't administer an antidote." 

Oh. Yeah. He forgot about getting the anti-venom.

His exhaustion from staying up all night had hindered his thinking process enough not to administer the cure for the cut he had gotten from that Polyenian spider. If he didn't say anything now then he was as good as dead.

"What did you say my dear?" Came Plums voice.

"Polyenian... Spider..." He voiced out. 

"I... I don't have anything to help with that. It's a slow acting prison but I don't even know how long he has had it in his system for. Even if I did come up with  something by then he could be too far gone or dead." Came the calm yet distressed voice of Plum. "Would you happen to have anything, young Troll?" 

Looking for Poppy he finally found her figure through the haze of colours and gasped out. "In my bunker... corner of my room. A white box." His eyes finally dropped, not sure if it was the venom or exhaustion that was doing it.


	4. Poppy's need for speed

Turning around to see Branch's reaction she was not expecting the look of horror plastered all over his face. He started to stumble away from them, running towards him knowing that something was DEFINITELY wrong no matter what he could say to her.

Catching him underneath the armpits it took only a few seconds for him to lose all motor control and stumble towards her, his face nuzzling into the side of her neck. He had gone slack in her grip making her carry all of his weight, his temperature was even warmer than what  she remembered.

"PLUM! PLUM GET OUT HERE!" She shouted towards the purple pods leaf, voice pitched high in her fear

The purple troll opened her door with a calm professional air and asked, "What is it, Pri-" Plum stopped mid sentence, noticing the grey troll on the ground.

"Get him inside quickly! I will make sure he is fine but do as I say. Quickly!"

"Biggie could you take him for me? He's a bit too heavy." 

Biggie gave her a quick nod before gently retrieving Branch from her arms and went inside the pod. She practically stayed on Biggies heels wanting to keep Branch in her sight as much as she could. 

Placing Branch gently on the bed, Biggie backed away letting Plum through. "Do any of you know what is wrong with him?" She asked while checking his temperature and heartbeat marking it all down on a piece of paper.

"Well," She stated, tone wavering. "He had this scratch on his arm that we wanted to take him in for and get his bandages changed because they looked like they had been bled thro-"

"Can you keep the noise down? I'm trying to sleep here." Branch slurred out.

Plum looked alarmed. "Oh no dear, stay awake. I'm just gonna cut off the bandages okay? Say anything if it hurts to much."

Branch had only looked mildly frustrated at the pain when she took it off his arm, the blood causing it to stick and tug at his arm. 

"Oh no," Plum gasped her expression unreadable. 

"What? What is it?!" She nearly yelled in her distressed state. She was surprised that while his gaze was blank, he still reached out in her direction with a clammy hand. She took it despite the wetness – him probably needing the comfort more than her.

"It's a cut from a venomous creature, that much I am aware of." She said while inspecting the wound, the edges yellow and inflamed. "But if I don't know what gave him this I can't administer an antidote."

There was a note of silence that rang throughout the room that chilled them to the bones, they all knew what that meant. 

It was broken by Branch in the end, still somewhat coherent and if it surprised Plum than they had more time than they thought.

"What did you say my dear?" She sounded calm but her body language was frantic to know if he was responding to what she said. 

"Polyenian... Spider..." He ended up pushing out face scrunched lik a great force was pushing him back. 

"I... I don't have anything to help with that. It's a slow acting prison but I don't even know how long he has had it in his system for. Even if I did come up with something by then he could be too far gone or dead." Plum turned in her seat with an unreadable expression though the tone of her words said it all. "Would you happen to have anything, young troll?"

It took a minute for him to respond but when he did, "In my bunker... corner of my room. A white box." 

He had turned his head to look at her, knowing what he was trusting her with. She was surprised he didn't just blurt out the location of his bunker. 

With his eyes closing fully this time, not even in a slow, long blink, she turned and ran not even stopping for the call of all her friends that she knew would be trying to follow her. Too bad they wouldn't know the way there to actually follow through, because while she wasn't the fastest she sure as hell knew her way around the village.

She chose the fastest route for the bunker, even if they were filled with Trolls who kept trying to stop her. She just bounced right over them, their concerns were for later her. Right now she has a grumpy Troll to save from his own stupid mistakes! 

 

* * *

 

Looking down at the 'GO AWAY' mat she realized she didn't know how to get in. Finding nothing to help her she sent a quick ' _Ohhh I'm definitely NOT sorry for doing this.'_  to Branch and proceeded to swiftly kick it. 

Jumping down she avoided some of the traps he had set up to keep creatures that had passed his doormat away and hopped onto the circular platform, pushing the lever down.

Not letting it get all the way down she hopped and ran all over the main part of his bunker looking for his room. Never having ventured farther than a few steps from the escalator so she had no idea where to go from here. 

"Calm down Poppy,  _think_. Find it quick and get out. He's counting on you and you can't mess this up." 

Running into the rooms were an option but she would lose time, but on the other hand she didn't know where anything was. Maybe if she looked for a bed and other roomy stuff? 

Twisting herself around in circles trying to get a good look around before she ended up ducking into a place that looked vaguely like it could be a room. Finding it empty except for a desk, closed curtains off to the left side that were bulging out and some oddly colourful pipes that led up into the earth above.

Stepping back a bit, knowing it was not the room she was looking for, she seen a small enterance with steps leading up, stairs fit for only one troll to climb at a time. She found it. 

 _'Who knew he was so troll like on the inside? He has his bunker deep underground but still put his room up above everything.'_ She thought as she scaled the steps jumping three at a time.

Spotting a bulge of sheets and pillows she knew she had found it. She scanned the room with a sweep of her eyes to see if she could just see it.

' _There!'_

She lashed her hair out to grab onto it and ran back down the flight of stairs. Making sure her hair held the box tight all the way around as the elevator slowly made its way up. When it was almost to the top, she jumped the last bit and threw herself into a full blown sprint. 

Her knees almost buckling under the extra weight of the white box, she pressed.

Making to to Plums' pod was another fight, she found out. Trolls kept trying to grab her and tell her to relax or even force her to stop. She even  _snapped_ at one for grabbing her leg when she had jumped and making her fall with a solid crack, the onlookers had covered their faces to suppress their gasp.

Getting back up and ignoring the throbbing pain in her head she kept on. It was only a little bit further until she got there depending on which trolls decided they wanted in on royal business.

She got to the door of Plum's pod and all but ripped it off it's hinges. "Poppy!" Everyone had yelled and she couldn't blame them, she probably looked bad.

"Plum, here! I got the box," She gently placed it on the ground and retracted her hair. Thank god, her scalp was starting to hurt and her magic drained a bit from keeping the tight hold. 

The sound of Plum rummaging through the box kept everyone on edge waiting for the "got it!" that never came.

"Plum? What's wrong?" 

"I haven't seen this before! It's written in another language. I can't tell which is which." 

"We need to try and wake Branch up then." Biting her lip in uncertainty, she turned towards Branch's bed. 

"Branch? Branch wake up." She said softly while shaking him. She just received a groan. 

"Poppy dear it's not going to work. He's pretty much in a coma at this point." 

Taking a deep breathe she said even louder "Branch! Come on Branch we need you to wake up!" This enticed an eye to twitch along with his ears. 

"BRANCH!" She screamed knowing that would definitely get to him at this point. 

"AH!" He hollered back incoherently. 

"W-what?" Stuttered Plum. "This can't be right!" 

"Now Branch I need you to tell me which one is to cure Polyenian spider bites, okay?" She helped his sit up, wincing at his hiss of pain. "I know Branch, I know,  you just gotta tell us which one is it then you can go back to bed." 

Plum had the needles lined up to the side of Branch when she had been studying them so it was a perfect place for him to see them. 

Branch's eyes were lazily gazing out at nothing like he didn't know what was happening. "Plum! Help me!" 

"Okay Branch, what does this say?" Plum was holding the needle up to his face while Poppy had a hold of him. 

"Can't... see..." He mumbled. 

"The poison is affecting his sight, that's odd." Plum questioned with a lowered tilt to her lips. 

"Need glasses." Branch said with just barely there scathing tone. Ah, so he is there.

"Here takes these then." She placed hers on Branch's face and his squint became less harsh. She held up the first again.

"Gorlsh... Harevah... Branish... Polyenian..." He listed off slowly his squint growing increasingly worse.

"AHAH! Got it! Quick Poppy, give me his arm." 

She picked up his arm with a grunt and held it how Plum wanted it, the weight of it surprisingly heavy for an arm. "By the trolls, what do you eat?" She muttered.

The injection went as easy as it could have been and they placed Branch back on the bed for some more rest. Having passed out before the needle had entered his arm made it easier, in the case he did make a fuss.

"Now out all of you, except the Princess. He needs some rest and I can't have you all making noise." There was a groan shared with the group and after some convincing they all said their "bye Poppy" hugs and it went quiet.

Sitting in the soft chair placed next to Branch she sighed and placed a hand on her head to soothe the pain. She rubbed and immediately hissed in pain, bringing her hand down to look at it accusingly before she realized the bits of blood on it.

Jumping up immediately feeling quite a bit panicked but not wanting to get in the way of Branchs treatment she snuck her way into the bathroom.

"Hey Plum?" She called out after she knew she was safe from sight. She heard a questioning hum in response. "You don't mind if I borrow your shower do you?" 

"Everything here is for you to use, Princess. Unless it's anything medical go for it."

"Thanks!" 

Stripping down her clothes that had gotten mud all over them when she had been grabbed and placing them on top of the toilet, she looked into the mirror.

Wow, was she ever a hot mess.

Previously where mud had caked onto her skin had all dried off and left a gritty feeling that you couldn't get off all the way unless you had a good wash. On top of that her face had mud plastered in places, with blood beginning to drip down from where she had disturbed her wound earlier with her hand. The blood coming down from the side of her head in her hair making it look a gross red-brown. Sticking her tongue out at her reflection to show that she isn't bothered by it until she saw her hair. 

 _'Ewww.'_  

It had sticks and little pieces of leaves in it. Not to mention stray hairs had come out of her ponytail to make her look just the tiiiiiiniest bit crazy. Taking her time to pick the larger stuff out that could not go down the drain she finally deemed herself able to go in to the shower.

Trying to scrub out the blood from her hair was a slow process but it was working. It was still lazily bleeding so she would have to figure a way to get it to stop when she got out, but so far she was done. She wasn't really going to put anything scented on or wash her hair with the risk of putting soap into her cut. So just water had to do for now.

Getting out and grabbing some toilet paper she pressed it on and waited for the bleeding to stop. It only took a few boring minutes but the slow drip of blood did eventually stop, but only one problem. She had no clothes to put on, her told ones being disgusting and mud ridden. 

"Plum? Hey Pluuuuuuuum." She singsonged out.

"What is it Princeeeeeeeess." 

"I need some new cloooooothes." 

"Don't worry I'll get you some of mine. Can't have the Princess walking around in patient attire or the town will be gossiping and your father throwing a fit." 

With the sound of Plum rummaging in the drawers of her room, she came back. 

"Here you are nice and fresh. Just washed earlier." 

"Thank you, Plum. Really. I don't know what the village would ever do without you." She gave her a big grateful smile. 

"You would have long ago succumb to infection and disease." She deadpanned. 

Staring at each other for a long, hard second, they burst out laughing. "Right." 

She got changed and with one last check to her head to make sure no extra blood had come out and into her hair, she sat once again on the plush chair next to Branchs bed thankful that none of the mud had come off on it. 

"You can sleep in the other room, Princess. He's not going anywhere." Plum said with a frown marring her face – her usual attire gone in place of some green duck pyjamas.

"I know," She said softly. "But I want to stay here."

"You care for him deeply don't you?" Questioned Plum, her voice interested. "I am a doctor Poppy, and I keep things confidential between me and my clients. Even emotional stuff." 

She kept her head down not wanting to respond. She didn't even know how she was feeling at this moment, the stress was getting to her a bit. 

Plum smiled knowingly. "Get some rest and come back if you ever want to talk. I'll be ready." 

As Plum walked into her room she turned around with a smile and spoke once more, "And do NOT be afraid to wake me up for any reason if you deem it necessary. I live here if you haven't noticed so it's no trouble at all to get up and check."

Nodding to her in acknowledgment, Plum left her alone. It was quite dark now with the bioluminescent lights that lined the walls finally being turned down for the night, and quiet. Very quiet.

Grabbing a thick blanket to throw over herself to keep warm, she leaned forward to look at Branch. If it wasn't for the rise and fall of his chest, or the way he seemed to flinch at times she would have assumed he was dead. 

Deciding to deal with her decision in the morning if he woke up before her, she gently placed her hand on his and palms pressed together once more and laced their fingers together the best she could. Leaning her head on the bed she closed her eyes and never felt the drift of sleep that eventually took her.


	5. Confunundrum

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm just gonna put here that the electronic in this story are very old and only for music. I would think Trolls would learn to make a way to keep music on them constantly.

Everything came into focus slowly, the color purple invading his vision. Moving his hand to rub at his eyes to get rid of the crusty feeling he realized he couldn't, his muscles refusing to move for him. Trying once more, he felt a twitch or two.

Well, shit.

His other arm, however, had a warm weight on it. He may not be able to move them but he sure as hell can feel them. Turning his head, which thankfully cooperated, he seen a pink figure he could recognize from miles away and almost sighed in relief. So nothing here is dangerous, except maybe a spontaneous party.

Continuing on, he let his eyes roam past Poppy, spotting an unfamiliar female purple troll sitting at a desk, green hair riddled with, what was that, bandaids? Trolls really are weird if they are putting that in their hair.

Apparently he made some sort of noise or movement which caused him to be the centre of her attention now and not her paperwork.

"I see sleeping beauty is awake now?" She leaned onto her open palm, elbow resting on the hard wood.

He tried talking but nothing came out but a strangled wheezing noise and he startled at it. "Don't worry, I'll get you a cup of water. It's just your bodies reaction to the venom." She stated as she grabbed a small wooden cup that was resting nearby. "You had a close call there, young troll. What I want to know is how you even got that and lived, but that can wait until you are better. You aren't going anywhere anytime soon." Smirking at his glare, she tilted his head up to take big gulps of the water, not even realizing how thirsty he had been indeed. 

"Branch." He didn't want to be called 'young troll' every time he was addressed, it was quite annoying. 

"What?" 

"My name... is Branch." He ground out somehow, his throat feeling scratchy and dry. 

"I see," Giving an amused look she felt his forehead. "Still a bit feverish but nothing we can't fix within a few days." 

Removing her hand she looked down at the direction Poppy was, and that's when he finally saw the position they were in. She had grabbed his hand at some point in the night, leaving her to place her head on the bed due to the position. Her face peaceful and calm, not holding her usual big smile and wide eyes. 

"You really should thank her, you know." Plum whispered, voice filled with some sort of soft emotion he couldn't place at the moment. "She saved your life, running to wherever you sent her for the antidote. She came back a total mess, looking like she was about to cry the poor thing. She cares a lot, you know." 

Looking up to Plum he noticed she had been looking at him while his main focus had been on Poppy. He ducked his head as best as he could, ears pressed close to his head in shame. Yeah, he knew.  

"Welp, really nice chat we had here but," He glared at her for that little comment  as she strutted away from his bedside, breaking the awkward silence. "You really better get back to resting."

He _d_ _id_ feel a little tired but not enough to fall asleep easily. "Not tired." 

"I can give you something to help you sleep." 

He took the idea into consideration, but decided he'd rather not. Shaking his head, he gave the doctor his message on the idea. 

"There isn't much to do if you can't quite move your arms, but we can improvise with something I guess." She looked around the room for a minute before landing on her old music player. "How about some music? I have headphones so you can keep it quiet. Wouldn't want to wake the Princess now would we?" 

Rolling his eyes as she skipped across the room to a door and returned a few seconds later with the music player. 

"Aaaaaaand here we are!" He inspected it from its place in Plum's hands and realized he had no idea how to use it. He had the older ones that used speakers, not these headphones. 

Giving her a look to signify that he actually  _can't_ grab the player from her of his own will she gave a soft, "Oh" and did it herself. He did NOT like the idea of her being near his ears but unless he wanted to be bored for the next few hours with nothing to do, looking at the horrendous colour of the pod he was in. 

"Would you  _hold your ears still?_ " While she may be a doctor, she sure as hell was no saint when it came down to patience. His ears just kept twitching from her grasp making it annoying to put the headphones in. 

"EASY." Baring his teeth when she touched his ear a bit too roughly he was about to snap at Plum – not _literally_  he wasn't a savage – before he heard some sheets moving. 

"What in trolls name is happening?" The groggy voice of Poppy arose from below. He mentally groaned at being caught in this position with the crazy doctor, while he internally hoped for Poppy to help him. 

"Well, _some_ trolls doesn't like to be medically induced to sleep, so I was getting him some music to listen to." She pointed out in a pretend offended fashion with her arms crossed, thankfully away from his sensitive ears. 

He heard Poppy shuffle a bit before popping into his line of sight and giving him a smile and waving to him even though she  _knew_ he could see her just fine. 

"Here, let me help with that!" She chirped, getting up with a bounce to her step and making her way around the bed and making her way to Plums side. "What was it that you were trying to do?"

Of course it would be like Poppy to help someone even if she had no idea what she was supposed to do.

Plum let out an amused huff before handing her the headphones. "Well, I was trying to put these in his ears but they would stop moving! It was like they had a mind of their own, messing me up every time I tried to put them in." 

"You don't mind if I try, do you Branch?" 

"Don't need them. You'll just... talk through the music." 

Poppy let out a laugh and punched him in the shoulder. "Right you are, Brancho!" 

Startled by her punch and the incorrect use of his name he was going to retort but Plum intercepted. "It seems like our friend 'Brancho' is regaining his voice," Squinting at her in annoyance and she just gave him and amused look back. "But he still shouldn't be talking. But I'm sure you can more than make up for that, right, Princess?" 

He honest to skies never felt so dead on the inside ever before. He was going to spend a whole day, listening to Poppy, the Princess of the whole village of trolls, talk about anything and everything. 

Plum had up and left after she had grabbed what she needed for her room declaring there was no need for her to keep watch of Branch due to Poppy being finally awake.

Preparing himself for the first sentence out of her mouth he tended and waited. 

"Um... Are you feeling okay?" 

Okay, not expected. 

"I'm doing fine." He whispered out hoping his voice wouldn't give out, but he was finding it easier to talk than earlier.

"That's good. That's really good." She fiddled with her fingers for a minute before finding something else to ask. Her eyes drifted to his banded arm. "How did you even get that? It doesn't look like a bite. Just a scratch." 

"The type of spiders," he cleared his throat to at least and try to sound more clear, "is one with venomous claws... not fangs." 

"Oh..." she paused. "Hey! Don't avoid the question! How did you get it?" 

As amusing as it would be to tell her how he got it and see her reaction, he would rather nobody never find out what he does in his nightly routines. 

Looking away from her he hoped she got the message. "Oh no," she started. "Don't you think you can get away from this one, Mr. Grumpy shorts. You can't move and I have you  _right where I want._ " 

There was a slight sound indicating Poppy was moving, but before he knew it he felt hands on the sides of his stomach that had began to dig in and move sporadically. Every nerve in his body told him to  _move, fight back_ and do whatever he could to struggle away from the grip. 

When he tried he could barely budge at all, his lungs were beginning to strain with the effort to hold in his screeches. A few more seconds of the torture had him in peels of laughter and tears at the corner of his eyes. "S-s-stop! I giVE!" His voice had cracked at the end, how embarrassing. But at least her grip had relented and he had now time to try and regulate his breathing to normal. 

" _Now_ will you tell me?" Poppy had crossed her arms with a very large satisfied smile, her eyes shining with something he had never seen before. 

Taking a few more gulps of air to ease his heaving chest, he glared at her with all the intensity he could muster at the moment. "Another... time."

Poppy had looked at him for a long moment before she left it alone deciding he was sincere enough. 

"Okay! So now we have to talk about where you're going to live!" 

"What!?"


	6. Branch is... burning?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My writing with Poppy is pretty erratic and probably a bit ooc, but since I have been diagnosed with ADHD I write her with my sort of mindset. I tend to switch subjects super fast and forget, but other really weird subjects or pieces of information I will remember. Branch is also I think ooc? Some have been telling me I have them in character which really helps me keep going, I really don't like ooc characters unless there is a reason or a situation that calls for it like a AU. I'm still pretty much trying to get a hold of their character. Also the ADHD thing? Makes it so goddamn awful for me to remember certain aspects that I've written.

The first thing that had passed through his mind had been a gigantic red sign that flashed 'NO' at her even mentioning them live in the same  _area_ , not to even mention that he couldn't really sit with her for more than ten minutes without wanting to rip his hair out and bare himself to any predator willing to take him away. 

Not really, but you get the idea. 

"I really... appreciate the idea? Yeah, that's the right words. But I'm  _not..._ going to even play with the idea of living at your place. Yeah, no thanks. Nope."

"But  _come on!_ It'll be so much fun! There will be lots of singing, dancing, and even more singing." She started to count off on all the supposedly "fun" things they could do on her fingers with a sort of crazed look in her eyes that he knew she was planning something already.

"Poppy you know I don't like a-" he let out a cough as his throat felt itchy with its overuse. "Any of those things." He had started again.

"But we can always try, right? You never know until you try it!" She got up and grabbed the cup that had been placed off to the side of the, what was that even? He guessed was a sink and poured some water into it.

"I've already tried those when I was... younger. Didn't work." He accepted the water that was pressed close to his face and gratefully gulped most of the cup. 

Giving him an amused look, she spoke again. "Do you really think you will be able to live in your bunker like this? It's like feeding a trolling on the bottle." 

She held the cup up and shook it a little in his field of vision. Tch, he was NOT a trolling in the least, no matter what she said. He was just...  _impaired_ for the moment.

"I am not going to your house." He relented. 

"Okay." Poppy hummed as she washed the little wooden cup out.

It was never just a "okay" from Poppy. There had to be something else she planned, he knew it. 

"You can go back to your bunker, actually." She was now done washing and drying the cup, turning around lacing the back on her hips on the counter where he could see her, she gave him a look he couldn't identify. 

"What do you want." 

"What, me? Ohhhhh nothing." She begun fluttering her eyes and giving him what he could only deem as her, I'm-acting cute-so-you-don't-know-I'm-actually-guilting-you.

" _Poppy..._ " He warned. He didn't want to play her usual games right now, his eyelids were actually starting to feel heavy. 

" _Fiiiine_. The deal is that I..."

"Yeeeaaaahhh..." 

"Would..."

"Just hurry up!" 

"Fine! Jeez, can't handle a little suspense can you  _Brancho_?" 

"Poppy, I swear upon every breeze there is."

"What?" She at least looked genuinely confused at his choice of words.

"Just..." He paused for a calm breath. "Can you get along with what you were going to say?"

"Oh yeah! The deal is that I would have to live with you there!" 

"No way." He already knew the answer. 

"Come on." She whined. "You can't even move right now, how do you think you are going to eat and drink for the next week or so? You can't stay here the whole time with Plum. She needs her space for other clients. You'll be here maybe until tonight or tomorrow, she said once the venom is administered there isn't much else to actually help but relax and rest."

He relelnted a bit, she did actually have a point. But he should be fine earlier than that if his immune system still wanted to cooperate. 

It was quiet for a moment before he announced, "You are not coming to my bunker."

"Braaaaaaaaaaa _aaaaaaaaaaaanch_!" Poppy left her place at the sink to take up a position that what he could only assume was supposed to be to her was encouraging. Eyes widened and hands held in a prayer position, she had begun to purse her bottom lip. 

"No! Stop that. I'm not letting you come into my bunker for any amount of time! Just no! So stop that." 

She just leaned in closer and he became a little uncomfortable.

"Poppy no."

Poppy leaned in a little closer enough to be close to his ear and whispered, "Poppy yes."

He growled in frustration at her antics. He had too many things to worry about in his bunker for a  _normal_ troll, but with Poppy? She would be too much to handle and he couldn't even stop her if she got into something potentially dangerous. 

"No! You would invite all of your troll friends... and ruin my place! Not to mention all of the potentially dangerous stuff in my bunker if you were to find some of it, not knowing how to handle it. The answer... is no Poppy!" 

Poppy had placed a hand on her chest in mock offence. "You would think after all these years, I would tell any other troll where your bunker is?"

"If you were trapped there with no escape like you would be, yes. I know this about you Poppy, when you get bored you have to do something, and that usually involves partying, singing, or dancing. What do those," he started coughing because this was really starting to take a toll on him, feeling even heavier than before. "entail? Other trolls, Poppy."

"Yeah, yeah," she waved him off like his point meant nothing, and it probably did in her mind. "But it's still something to think about. After all you are still under the soft,  _nurturing_ care of doctor Plum Plimsy." 

A muted voice could be heard through the door to the doctors room in what he could only describe as a, "I HEARD THAT PRINCESS."

 

* * *

 

"AND I WASN'T TALKING TO YOU." Yelling back to Plum had given her a sort of playful satisfaction because she knew Plum wouldn't say anything back because, well, she wasn't speaking to her in the first place.

"Say, Bra-" Immediately putting a stop to her line of thought she covered her mouth with her hands. 

Gosh, he must have been exhausted! Falling asleep while her and Plum were yelling? Who even does that!

_'Branch, that's who.'_

Tip toeing her way into the chair that had been placed on the opposite side of the bed, she proceeded to silently flop herself onto it. 

Now actually thinking about something else than Branch and where he is going to stay, she felt an incoming headache pulse briefly behind her temples and almost slapped her face at her stupidity.

She forgot about her head injury until now, and if it wasn't bothering her too much why bother Plum? She seemed like she had a lot on her hands right now, even after everything was done with Branch. She'll find a time when she wasn't busy to check it. So far it had not bled again, and it had actually started to form a little bit of a scab. That was good, right? 

She was a little foggy on how medical stuff went. 

A few minutes ticked by and she started to shifting around to get more comfortable. It had stated out as a simple picking of the loose divers on her dress, then to a more noticeable toe tapping that led to a full on out humming and the shifting of her body to dance to the beat.  "This is so borrrrrring."

Branch was asleep and would be so for a few hours if she was right, so why not head out for a little bit? She could see Creek for a little bit! Maybe Satin and Chenille, chat about the newest dresses they had on rack for her, maybe talk about repairing one of her favourite dresses while she was at it. Or talk to Guy about anything really. Trolls, that guy was amazing to talk anything out with. 

She gave a glance to Branch. ' _In and out before he knows it._ ' Her mind supplied. Nodding and smiling she got up and walked to the one and only door in the pod. She opened the door a bit and whispered, "I'm just gonna go out for a bit. Won't be long!" 

"Alright, Princess. If Branch wakes up before you come back I will tell him you've gone out." 

"Thanks!" She gently closed the door and left the pod with a hop to her step. 

Walking into the village was as normal as it could get. The usual amount of hustle and energy permeated throughout the area, while various amounts of color invaded her vision much to her delight.

"Hi Princess!"

"Hey Poppy! How was yer day?"

"Hey guys! And good! Thanks Blundle!" She shouted over her shoulder as she continued on.

She weaved her way through the crowds, only stopping to talk to a few trolls about how their day was going or even how the young ones were doing. She always loved the young ones and made it a personal goal to check up with the parent son how they were doing, only when she couldn't see them during story time.

"Wait a second Poppy!" A feminine voice sounded from behind her. Deciding to jump out of the mass of trolls to stop and look at who had called her she seen Suki.

"Suki!" She exclaimed. "What are you doing?" 

Suki had bent over when she stopped, her hands placed on her knees and her chest moving at a faster pace than normal. Raising her hand in a signature "give me a second" she rose back up with a smile. 

"I seen you and decided to ask you and see how Branch was doing. You too, actually. You didn't look too well yesterday at all."

"None of us looked well." She had felt bad for all of them, honestly. It was a terrifying experience for any troll to witness another almost succumb to the unknown. "How is everyone dealing today?"

Suki frowned. "I seen Biggie today, he was a bit shook up but should be fine. Said he felt Branch was a bit warmer than usual but summed it up to that naturally being him. Smidge is a bit emotional over the whole situation but you know her, she's a trooper. And, well, Cooper is Cooper. He seems upset but he looks like he will be fine by the end of the day. I Haven't seen Creek, Fuzzbert, the twins, or Guy today."

Poppy felt mildly guilty for the emotional turmoil she had inflicted on her friends for helping her, but greateful they decided to stick around and help. 

"You guys are the best, you know that?" She gave Suki a grateful smile. 

"Yeah, yeah. We know." Suki lightly punched Poppy on the arm, enough to make her sway a bit to the side.

"Well I gotta go anyway! Mom wanted me to grab some seed before all the other trolls take it all. There's apparently a big sale." Suki started to look for an opening in the morning rush, signaling her about to leave.

"Oh! I forgot. Tell Branch I said hello and that I hope he gets better." Saluting Suki left her vision, abruptly sucked into the mass of colours.

"Oh!" Poppy nearly squealed. She was at the market! She could grab Branch a few things to help him get better! 

_'Now, what would Branch like?'_

"Honeys pretty healthy and it's not a heavy food, at least I think?" She muttered, for that she earned a few questioning looks.  "Ooooh but chocolate is pretty good." 

She placed her knuckles gently on her chin for a few moments. Snapping her fingers she came up with a brilliant idea. 

"I'll just get both! I know he'll like this!" She jumped excitedly into the morning rush and earned a few exasperated looks, most used to the princess' enthusiasm at this point. 

Bumping into a few trolls had earned and gained sorry from her and a few others but all in all there was not much of any accidents. She had made her way to her destination which was all in all one of her favourite sweet stands. 

"Nick! My main man, how are you on this fine day?" She teased him while leaning on his stand, a hand on the firm wood and a hand on her hip. 

"H-h-hello Princess Poppy!" He said while bowing. "H-h-h-how can I help y-you?" The troll in question was a bit younger than Poppy, with dark green skin with vibrant yellow hair, along with a smaller light green nose and brown eyes that always stayed down made him very cute. Born the same season, they had known each other when they were younger and growing up. 

Well, at one point they had been somewhat close fiends when they were very young, but duties had called for a young princess for her to be trained in troll way of life and certain roles that was to be expected with being royalty. 

"How many times have I told you to just call me Poppy?" She giggled at how much he started to sweat and fidget. "You know I'm only teasing," she relented after seeing him get even more nervous. "Call me whatever like as long as it makes you happy." 

Sagging with visible relief he finally looked into her eyes with a small nervous smile. "W-what can I help y-y-you with today, P-Princess?" 

" _Wellllllllllll_ if you want to know," she paused for dramatic affect, leaning in like she was telling a secret. "I am looking for some high quality honey and chocolate. You know where I can find some, my good sir?" 

"You k-k-know I have t-those already." He smiled a bit leaning forward on the counter giving a more confident air as if he knew what he was doing would make her wilt. 

"Come on, Nick! You took the fun out that purposely! I don't know what other trolls mean when they say you aren't anything but shy. You have a bunch of confidence already." She whined playfully.

Nick flushed an even darker green and started to stutter like crazy. "I-I-I d-don't k-k-kno-"

"It's fine, Nick! Just keep this attitude and you'll be  _teeming_ with all the lady trolls." 

"Y-y-you think?" He asked hopefully. 

"Definitely. Now, about that honey and chocolate?" 

It turns out that Nick had gotten a fresh stock of both and with many thanks to the free items – being princess had its many quirks but he was  _definitely_ getting a big tip later on – and she had walked away with some fresh items for Branch to eat when he woke up. Maybe some fruit would do at a later date, she decided. 

He had to be starving earlier but she never even thought about it. It would be about a day since he had eaten? Less? More? She didn't know but what she did know was that he was going to eat these whether he liked it or not.


	7. Guess who is back

Poppy ambled away from Nick's stand – a bag filled with a jar of honey and a bar of chocolate, _mayyyybe_  a little extra for her later on if she felt like she needed a snack – the only reason that she found the pace desirable was the fact that no trolls had decided to swarm the market, deciding they all had come for what they needed or wanted. 

She didn't want to go back to Plums yet, so maybe visiting someone would work? They were most likely all out doing their own thing. Thinking for a long hard moment she nodded and changed her course, setting off for her pod. 

She had to pass through colourful and still buzzing – many trolls were still acquiring a few objects – market, as Plums pod was pretty much on the other side of the village from her own.

Passing successfully through the market with no interruptions, besides a few trolls asking how she is and if she would like an item or two, which she would politely deny as anything else and it would become a burden. She found herself in front of a great big, bright green grass field that existed right smack dad in the middle of the village.

If you were to crane your head up and look, you would find many,  _many_ different coloured pods of all sizes and shapes adorned on all types of branches big and small. They draped over the field of trolls creating a sort of shade, the leaves healthy and strong with the magic they poured into the tree just by living there,  but letting a good amount of sunlight through. 

Plenty of wide winding paths and stairs leading up to the pods higher up circled around the trunk and bustled with plenty of life, even some not of the troll sort. These paths led many creatures up, trolls to their pods, and other young animals of the sort that needed help with branching or some flight lessons.

Easy access and all that kind of stuff, her father had said. Well maybe not like that. 

And if you were to look below on the vast expanse of grass that still sparkled with the remenants of morning dew, were the hustle of many activities. From arts and crafts led by one young paint covered troll, to the storytelling of troll history by one of the elderly, to the morning Yoga class that Creek was teaching.

Creek! Whipping her head back to the familiar dual coloured hair, wincing at the slight pain of the action, but at least it looked like she finally found him, but since he was busy she would leave him to do his thing at a later date. It might be easy to have everyone together and then explain the story because having to do something more than once was so  _boring._

Seeing as the others weren't in his class at the moment she had no reason to join, already feeling limbered up for the day. 

She trotted her way across the field, many trolls greeting her and asking how she was. She would just give them a quick passing "pretty good!" Or an "amazing!" and it settled the conversation, seeing as they most likely had other things to attend to. 

Makkng her way to the sturdy moss stairs, she hopped the steps by two and hummed. It was such a nice day out! Not too cold, it seemed the last vestiges of winter might have finally left them for good, at least until next season.

Still dreaded what spring had to hold though. Honestly! You would think male trolls had more restraint. 

Almost tripping over her own feet, she realized that she had finally come onto the smoothed part of the path up to her pod.

The paths were made generally using steps up until a certain height, then it just smoothed out into a tilt generally going up, making it easier to walk without getting too exhausted and making room for other steps and slides to weave through the branches and other stairs.

Her pod had been placed in the direct middle of the tree on the strongest branch possible, close to her father and other close advisors which lived in the tree, where her father – okay maybe some of his advisors – convinced him to stay.

He obviously fought the idea because there were plenty of other uses the large inside would have had instead of being his home but in the end he relented. He had once told her,  _"One day this will be your home, my dear Poppy. I chose to live inside because I know at some point when I am gone, this will be yours and your children's. I want to give you something to remind you of me and generations to come."_

She had been just a few years old when he said this of course, so a few things should obviously be missing but that was the gist of it. She didn't mind being in a pod, it's pink fibres giving a certain light that just made her think of home. It kept her closer to everyone in the town, also. 

She made it to her pod, the trek up taking her only a few minutes, but it was enough for her to begin to drift off and reminisce.

Placing a hand on a the petal that was gently pressed against the mossy path to prevent any accidents, she let a spark of her magic into the petal, as per usual. Like always it unfolded and yielded to her wish to enter it and she hopped up and in. 

Public pods like Plums were convenient, sure, but the ones that reacted to your magic and only a few select other? Priceless in the face of privacy.

Dropping the bag holding the items for Branch on her counter, she took the journey into her room for a new set of clothes, and brushed her hair thoroughly with her floral patterned brush. 

' _Does Branch even brush his hair?_ ' She shook her head vehemently at even thinking of him not brushing his hair. He's the one that always goes on about how it's their species number one tool,  getting on her for even using any hair gel or moose. 

Thinking he would like to brush his hair out at one point, she placed the brush in the bag with everything else, and  _yes_ , she did clean it before she put it in there. She wasn't going to let her hair get all over the food.

Plunking herself down on her perfectly dried out moss chair, she leaned her head back to stare at the nearly neon pink ceiling.

"Man, yesterday was a ride," she mused out loud, amusement dry. "I see Branch and try to help him, and what does he do? Goes and gets himself poisoned and we didn't even have a cure! On top of that he doesn't even tell us!" 

Theowing her arms up in the air, she slowly brought them down. Crossing her arms over her chest, she started to ache with an unfamiliar emotion.

"We... were so close to losing him." She said out loud and was surprised at the choked noise she let out. "We almost couldn't do anything. He could have  _died,_  and we almost couldn't help him, he helped himself." 

Curling herself into the fuzzy embrace of her chair, she nearly sobbed at the realization she had been hiding from.

"What if I hadn't been there?" She questioned herself as horror at what could have happened began to manifest itself within her.

Biting her lip to try and hold back her tears because no, she hadn't been hiding from it. She had refused to acknowledge that Branch had almost  _died_. Sure she had taken the idea he was poisoned in stride, she guessed, because who doesn't get a little poisoned in their life? Or sick? Possibly ill?

But it had not been the case, she had just realized, after she voiced her thoughts out loud. 

What could have happened if he hadn't be come out complain? Would he still have even been here, or would he have already done the cure himself without the interruptions of all the dancing and singing. 

She sat up and wiped her eyes, her eyes wet and mouth taught with her determination. She couldn't let these doubts take her. She would just ask him when he gets a little better, about how everything happened.

Turning onto her right side and curling up into a position less wrought with despair, she closed her eyes suddenly feeling exhausted once again. She would just take a nap, after all Branch shouldn't be up for awhile longer with how exhausted he had looked earlier, she just realized. 

He would be fine, Branch is a big troll anyway that can decide when he's tired enough to sleep. If he stayed up to talk with her than that was fine, as long as he eventually found sleep with how much he didn't want to sleep earlier when she woke up.

Closing her eyes she never even realized when she had passed from reality to dreams. 

 

* * *

 

_Poppy was standing on a sandy stretch of of land, her body frozen in place. Instincts practically screaming as she tried to jerk herself free from whatever was retraining her. To no avail did her efforts being besides a sluggish feeling._

_Looking at whatever was in front of her more deeply she realized that stretch of sand was really all there_ was.  _Besides that, all there was was a large mass of water for as far as the eyes could see. It lapped of the shores, and the waves slightly choppy due to the winds._

_Something was moving in the water, she realized. And directly towards her._

_The sluggishness that had held on to her before suddenly left, and along with that her efforts to escape came back._

_One second it was sandy land, and the next it was filled with rows of long, sharp teeth. She did the only thing she knew to do in the situation, she screamed._

 

* * *

 

"AAAAAAHHHHH!!!!" Poppy scrambled off the chair and held her hands to her chest swinging her head side to side to check for danger. 

Her panic was almost immediately quelled the moment when she realized that she was in her home, and there was indeed nothing here, and yes that had been a dream. 

Sagging to the floor she covered one of her cheeks, feeling how warm it was. Wow, that was pretty intense. Haven't had a dream like that in quite awhile.

Placing her hands firmly on the hard surface of her pod, she slowly got off of the ground with a hop, but not without a small wince of pain. Due to the position she had allowed herself to sleep in, her back had become sore and her neck had a knot in it. Falling out certainly had not helped.

Standing now, she had to take a deep breath before continuing to the washroom to use some cold water to cool her face and wipe away the sweat that had gathered there. 

It was time to make a visit.

**Author's Note:**

> Leave a kudos if you liked it! I just want to know if someone at least read it and enjoyed it.


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